This study analyzed the pragmatic meaning of the structure of ‘noun- er(而)-verb’. In this structure, nouns and verbs have the relationship of topic and comment, in which er(而) performs the role of scalar focus particle behind the topic.
Nouns in front of the er(而) acts as the extreme value of scalar, which is comprehensive. The structure of ‘noun-er(而)-verb’ can appear in both realistic and non-realistic situations, and has the meaning of concession with the negation of expectation.
In other words, since the attributes of the noun component are not consistent with what the speaker expects, twist, contrast, and emphasis are derived. The structure of ‘noun-er(而)-verb’ is the product of subjectification, which reflects the speaker’s evaluation or emotion in a certain situation. Subjectification is connected to the subjectivity in the form of language, while subjectivity is also related to the the attribute of the noun component in front of er(而).
The higher the level of sentience in the noun in front of conjunction (而) gets, the higher speaker’s empathy is, compared to the inanimate noun, when human-related animate noun appears. This makes speaker’s evaluation or judgment more distinct than the delivery of objective facts.